Waking up the morning after our crazy scooter ride, Tommy and I both looked at each other as if we had both shared the same nightmare; wondering if our unanticipated adventure had been some sort of figment of our imaginations. Realizing that it was all very real, we packed our day packs once again, this time full of everything we might need to spend the night in the wilderness and headed back out to see the wonders of Chiang Mai.
Determined to spend the night out in the hills of Chiang Mai, this time more prepared, we were resolute about finding the perfect place to camp for the night. We were thinking somewhere near a waterfall or maybe a river, or possibly just deep in the forest, away from any sort of civilization. Our first stop was at an incredible waterfall that Tommy and I hiked to the top of. Once up there, we decided that this place was a bit too touristy for us and might be a bit hard to camp at with so much going on around us. After spending a good amount of time exploring the area, we decided to move onto the next waterfall.
We had heard this next one was a bit hard to find, and as we began winding through various small villages we soon realized that this might be way more difficult to find than we thought. Learning from our mistakes the night before, we said that we would only go as far as half a tank would get us so that wherever we ended up, we would unquestionably be able to get back to a gas station or at least a village that could help us. So, as we continued on, winding through dirt roads, playing charades with the locals, trying to communicate to try and find the waterfall, we soon found ourselves going up very steep hills, pushing our motorbikes to the limits as we ascended up into the high hills of Chiang Mai.
Coming to a plateau on the top of one of the local Chiang Mai mountains, we found an open area, perfect for a small campsite if we couldn’t find this waterfall within the next half hour or so. Pressing on a bit further, we headed downhill determined to find this hidden gem of a waterfall. Coming to a river crossing where we thought that we could for sure continue upstream to find the falls, with the sunlight rapidly diminishing, Tommy and I continued on, hopes high on finding our watery haven to camp at. Unfortunately however, we came to a dead end where it was impossible to go any further. A bit dejected, we turned around in the mere dusk that barely lingered, lighting our path just enough to make out the boulders, rocks, fallen trees and streams that we came across in the road. Ascending once again, up to the top of the mountain, we barely made it back in time to set up our parachute hammocks from tree to tree and get a fire going. While setting up the rest of camp, we realized that we had a perfect view of all Chiang Mai down in the valley. The lights from the different hotels and streets signs were perfectly distinguishable from our perch, high above the city. Seeing Chiang Mai in this new light, or dark per say, was beautiful as we soon realized how big the city really was.
Sitting next to our campfire, Tommy and I were excited to have a bit of wind blow through the hills, clearing out the smoke from the burning crop fields and forests. For the first time, we were able to see the brilliant Thai stars, glowing brightly in the night sky. It was so peaceful up on that hill, so contrary to the busy city below. It really made us appreciate the unanticipated campsite we finally settled on and even more so appreciate being prepared this time for the Thai wilderness.
As it began to get a bit late, Tommy and I decided to douse our fire and retire for the night, being that we had a busy day of travel to a much anticipated town called Pai, to visit my good friend that I trekked to Mount Everest Base camp with.
Hopping in our hammocks, throwing our mosquito nets over the top of us, we enjoyed the tranquil sounds of the rustling trees, blowing in the wind. And as Tommy and I were just about to fall asleep, we all the sudden heard a loud, high pitched “UH OH” sound coming from the forest. A bit groggy, I asked Tommy if something was wrong. He then said, “I was just about to ask you the same, didn’t you just say uh oh?” With my heart rate instantly increasing, I peered out over the sides of my hammock, into the pitch black forest. As soon as I did, it happened again, “UH OH”. Something or someone was out there. It was some sort of wail or possibly some sort of call. “Was it human?” thinking to myself that there was some sort of indigenous tribe out here in the Thai hills, doing some sort of tribal call to one another to signal intruders. With my heart about to jump out of my chest, I told Tommy to grab his flashlight and shine it out into the woods. With a shaky hand, the beam of light scribbled across the shrubs and trees, yielding no sign of life anywhere. I almost half expected some sort of alien creature to come out of the brush and make that queer uh, oh sound again, but after a few minutes the sound seemed to cease and Tommy and I began to relax a bit, thinking that whatever it was, it had moved on.
Waking up the next morning, we watched an incredible sunrise stretch across the Chiang Mai valley, lighting up the hills and forest all around us. The crisp air was refreshing as we hopped back on our motorbikes and headed back into town. Still a bit perturbed at what that sound was the night before, we told our guesthouse owner what had happened in the middle of the night to hopefully be enlightened on what could have possibly made such an eerie sound. With a slight chuckle he didn’t really know what we were talking about and said we must have just been hearing things, but Tommy and both knew that there was something out there and that it wasn’t small.
Booking our bus that day to Pai, we packed up all of our things and hopped in a minibus up to this so called “hippie town”. As we stopped by guesthouse after guesthouse, our minibus soon turned into a clown-car as it soon became packed to the ceiling with luggage and bodies. As we started up the famous road of a thousand turns, with Tommy and I crammed in the very back of the minibus, we both laughed at yet another awkward travel experience and wondered what adventures this next town might bring.
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